


care a lot, know when to stop

by ships_to_sail



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Episode: s03e13 Grad Night, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Secrets, Siblings, Trash Siblings are Trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22055422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ships_to_sail/pseuds/ships_to_sail
Summary: The Rose siblings have always found it easier to talk to each other in the dark.
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose
Comments: 11
Kudos: 105





	care a lot, know when to stop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storieswelove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storieswelove/gifts).



It takes them at least forty-five minutes to finally shoo their parents out of the room, and between the singing and the cake, David Rose is exhausted by the time he falls back against the soft sheets of his bed. He sinks into the feathery down with a little wiggle and a groan; his back has been acting up again, and God knows there isn’t a reliable masseuse within an hour drive of Shitt’s Creek. He hears Alexis sink down on the edge of her bed, little giggle escaping her mouth, limp-wristed hand pressed to her lips while her other hand taps something out on the screen of her phone.

He rolls onto his side and folds his arms underneath his head. “How was graduation?”

“Hmm?” It takes her a second to look up at him, and even after she lifts her head, her eyes stay trained on her phone screen for another second or two. David isn’t sure when he’s last seen her  _ this  _ interested in her phone. 

“Earth to Alexis? The graduation? How was it?”

“Fine, David.”

“Fine?”

“Yes.”

“Mom -  _ our  _ mother, television’s Moira Rose - serenaded you in front of your entire high school and it was just. Fine.”

“Okay, no, that part was not  _ just  _ fine. She did a really good job, David.”

“So she said.”

“Well, but she did. And not in that mom way where she, you know,” Alexis made a face that was a little bit like a grimace, a little like a kiss, and her hands landed on her hips for a brief second before her face smoothed out. “But in a real way. It was so, so sweet,” and she’s back to looking at her phone. 

“Yeah,” David said, his lips pressed into a thin line that’s definitely not a smile, because it’s not like he doesn’t know his mother can sing, and it’s not even the first time Alexis has graduated. David flops onto his back and stares at the cracks in the ceiling above him. 

“Oh, how was your birthday?” It’s been long enough that he’s pretty sure she’s asking because she’s genuinely curious, not just because she knows asking him about his night is technically the polite thing to do. 

“It was fine,” he says, and he can practically hear the way she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, alright David.”

“It was a very nice birthday, Alexis.” The word ‘nice’ feels so thin in his mouth, so far from the full embodiment of his evening, but he can’t think of a better word for that little spark of warmth that keeps running along the nerves just under his skin. He doesn’t want to do anything but remember the little hitch in Patrick’s voice when he asked if they could talk tomorrow. He closes his eyes and rests one hand over his heart, one on his belly, and he sees Patrick’s face, hears that tiny, inconsequential exhale after they’d kissed, a small sound that had knocked David’s world off its axis. He can still feel Patrick Brewer under his palms, the little bit of scruff on his cheeks, so he presses them into his body and for the smallest second imagines that they’re Patrick’s. 

“I’m getting in the shower,” Alexis says, tossing her phone on the pillow as she stands. “Ew, David, can’t you wait until I’m gone to do that?”

“Do what?”

She mimes rubbing her hands over the front of her body lewdly, and she looks so ridiculous he has to laugh. “Fuck off, you still smell like that polyester gown.”

“Shut up David!” She clicks the bathroom door shut and he hears the shower turn on, the muffled rush of water a familiar white noise. He sits up with a sigh and pulls his cosmetic bag out from underneath his bed, grabbing his emergency skin care supplies. His body feels light, like he’s filled with bubbles, and he wants to go to bed while the feeling lasts, before the stupid voices in his head come back and ruin everything, like they manage to do damn near every time. Patrick had said thank you. To David. For kissing him. And David had been thanked for many things throughout the course of his life, but he’d never been thanked for kissing someone. When Patrick Brewer opened his mouth, he wound a spell around David that made him feel reckless. He was so bright, and shiny, and properly Patrick that he radiated through all the little cracks in David’s armor. He’d made David want to be brave, and had rewarded him with those big, honest eyes that David was becoming unfortunately fond of.

He’s just finished patting in his retinol when Alexis comes out of the bathroom, her hair clipped to the top of her head, an oversized t-shirt hanging almost to her knees. It’s for some curling team he’s never heard of at a University he knows sure as shit none of their old friends ever attended, which means it’s either Mutt’s, or it’s Ted’s. Based on the way Alexis keeps making little ‘aw’ noises at her phone, he’s got a pretty good idea which. And while he’d never actually say this out loud, to her face, she looks cute in it. He clicks off the light on his way back to bed, slipping his cosmetics case back in it’s proper spot before he strips down to his underwear and hangs his clothes neatly in the closet. His sheets, when he finally slips underneath them, feel delicious against his flushed skin. He sighs heavily and finally lets a huge, unguarded grin settle on his face.

“I’m glad you had a good birthday,” Alexis says, and he can see her watching him in the blueish glow of her phone screen. He rolls on his side and smiles at her.

“Thanks. I’m glad you had a good graduation.”

“Even if it wasn’t the first one?”

“Wasn’t it, though?” He’s kidding, but he’s not, and a few beats pass before Alexis answers him.

“Yeah. I guess it kind of was. Good night, David.”

“Good night, Alexis.”

He rolls over to face the wall, and he’s almost asleep to the gentle clicking sound of fingernails on a phone screen when he says it. He says it so he can hear it, so that it’s out in the world as a real life thing that he can’t try and convince himself later he’s only imagined. “I kissed Patrick. Tonight. He took me to dinner and gave me a gift and was nice to me so I kissed him.”

There’s silence in the room and he can feel Alexis looking at him. “I’m really happy for you, David. You should have people who are nice to you.” She doesn’t say anything for a while, but she doesn’t go back to typing on her phone, either. “Ted came. Tonight. To see me graduate. He was there, and you and dad weren’t, but he was.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t go, Alexis. But I’m really glad that Ted did.”

“Me, too. And it’s - it’s okay. You kissed Patrick.”

“Yes I did.”

“We’re definitely gonna talk about that in the morning, you know that right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“No, like, we’re going to  _ talk  _ about it.” 

“Okay, goodnight then.”

“Because you smooched that little button right outside this hotel room? Just kissed him right on his little puppy face?”

“Goodnight, Alexis!”

“Goodnight, David.”

He’s asleep hours before she is, but they both fall asleep with that little Rose family smile tucked into the corners of their mouths. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the Mary Lambert song ["Secrets"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXJwVDKbxfo), which is an absolutely stunning song.


End file.
